Erdogan vows "desinfection" against Gulen movement

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to find the members of the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen movement in the judiciary and police Hurriyet Daily News reproted.

"In order to sterilize this dirty water that contaminated the milk, we will either boil or molecularize it," Erdogan said.

The vow came at the closing speech of his ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) 22nd Consultation and Assessment Meeting in the western province of Afyonkarahisar, defending his promise against being called a "witch hunt."

"If changing the positions for those [officials] committing treason is called a 'witch hunt,' then yes, we perform a 'witch hunt,'" Erdogan told his party's deputies referring to the reshuffles of thousands of officials in the judiciary and police departments. He reiterated his accusations of a "parallel state," a term he used to define the members of the Gulen movement in top state positions and who allegedly are attempting to topple the government.

Erdogan also called on all his deputies, mayors, provincial party heads and all of the public to inform the party about the presence of such people in the state structure to help in his "witch-hunt."

Erdogan also said those who have infiltrated the state's branches are hard to identify, as they hide themselves tactically. He once again called on Gulen to come to Turkey and end his 15-year-long exile in the United States, saying "there are many good places in Turkey for those who want to live in seclusion."